Question

What is the electron configuration of an iron atom?

Answer 1

`1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^2 3d^6`

Explanation:

To write an electron configuration for any element you'll need to apply the Aufbau principle and use a diagonal diagram. Both are explained in the video below.

Of the elements discussed in the video, iron is most like Sc, but iron has 5 more electrons in the last subshell which is filled with electrons making its configuration end in `3d^6` rather than `3d^1`

Hope this helps!